STT is a line on the contract note, not a mystery
What Securities Transaction Tax is, why it is charged on turnover, and what a journal should store.
Securities Transaction Tax has an unusual quality for a tax: it does not wait to find out whether you made money.
It applies to the value of the trade, appears on the contract note, and is collected by your broker on the spot. Profitable or not, it is charged.
Different segments, different rates
Delivery, intraday and derivatives are taxed on different bases, and the derivatives rates were revised with effect from 1 April 2026 — futures moved from 0.02% to 0.05%, and the sale of options from 0.10% to 0.15% of premium.
Equity delivery and intraday rates were left untouched in that change. Rates get notified and re-notified, so read the note for the day rather than a table you memorised.
| Segment | Charged on | Old rate | Current rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Equity futures (sell) | Traded value | 0.02% | 0.05% |
| Equity options (sell) | Premium | 0.10% | 0.15% |
| Options on exercise | Settlement value | 0.125% | 0.15% |
| Equity delivery | Both sides | 0.1% | Unchanged |
| Equity intraday (sell) | Traded value | 0.025% | Unchanged |
As reported when the change took effect. Always confirm against the current contract note and exchange circular.
Source: Business Today — how the April 2026 STT change works
Why it hurts high-turnover books most
Because the charge follows turnover, not profit, a scalping style pays it on every round trip whether the trade worked or not. Two crore of futures turnover costs the same STT regardless of whether you finished the day up or down.
That is the arithmetic behind the familiar complaint that costs compound faster than edges.
Same average ticket size, more round trips. Illustrative journal data, not a live book and not a performance claim.
What the journal should and should not do
Should: store the amount printed, per trade, per segment, so the year adds up against the contract notes.
Should not: decide whether STT is deductible for you, or how it interacts with your head of income. That depends on facts a journal never sees, and it is exactly the question a Chartered Accountant is for.
Key takeaways
- STT is charged on turnover, so it applies to losing trades too.
- Store the printed amount instead of reverse-engineering a rate.
- Keep contract notes even when the CSV looks complete.
Where these numbers come from
- Business Today — how the April 2026 STT change works
- Finshots — STT hike explainer
- Zerodha Varsity — Markets and Taxation module
Not tax advice. This is journal bookkeeping, written for traders who keep their own records. Rates, forms and thresholds change every Budget. Your CA sees your salary, AIS and broker reports together — we see none of that.
Not advice, not a call. NiyataBook is a personal trading journal, not a SEBI-registered investment adviser or research analyst. Everything above looks backwards at trades that already closed. What happened in a book does not promise what happens next, and F&O can take a year’s savings in a week.